August 11, 2010

Men's Soccer Picked 9th in GLVC Preseason Poll

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. - The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's soccer team has been picked to finish ninth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference preseason poll, as announced today by the league office.

Defending league champion Drury was chosen as the favorite to claim the Great Lakes Valley Conference Men's Soccer Championship. In a vote of the GLVC's 15 head coaches, the Panthers collected 188 total points and eight first-place votes to edge Northern Kentucky for the top spot in the poll. The Norse tallied 183 total points, collecting three first-place votes.

They were followed by Lewis, who placed third in the annual publication, garnering 168 points and three first-place votes. The final first-place vote was given to Bellarmine, which placed fourth in the poll with 159 total points.

UW-Parkside finished fifth in the voting with 142 total points and is followed by Rockhurst (115 total points), Quincy (112), Missouri S&T (108), UMSL (95), Indianapolis (81), Saint Joseph’s (76), Illinois-Springfield (62), Kentucky Wesleyan (37) and Maryville (28), and Illinois-Springfield (21).

The 15 member institutions will compete in a 14-match round robin conference schedule and the top eight teams in the league standings will advance to the 2010 GLVC Tournament which is scheduled to begin on Oct. 31. The highest remaining seed following the quarterfinal round will host the GLVC semifinals and final on Nov. 5 and 7, respectively.

UMSL, under the direction of 10th-year head coach Dan King, returns 10 letterwinners from last year's 9-7-2 squad, which finished eighth in the GLVC regular season with a 7-5-2 mark, earning its first league tournament berth since 2006. King also welcomes a talented group of 14 newcomers who are expected to make an immediate impact.

UMSL opens the 2010 season at Newman University in Wichita, Kan., on Thursday, Sept. 2 in a 4 p.m. contest.